Paving the road: The Chronicles of Ragnarok
by Miran-chan
Summary: Set after the 2nd movie. As 2012 draws nearer, there are those who would stop at nothing to see the end of the world through. And then there are those who would stop at nothing to stop them.
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, nor do I make any money. They all belong to 1013 and Chris Carter. The plot line, however, is entirely mine, so I will very angry if anyone steals it. If you want to use it, ask me first.**_

_**Thank you to those of you who have reviewed my previous one-shot. I am now creating a long run fic, that I hope to update at least once a month. As for spoilers, I advice you to be awared of the series in general. I also consider the original six book by Titan to be official canon, so I may use elements of them in my story. And now, for the unveiling ^_^**_

**Prologue: August 2008  
**

Dana Scully was enjoying a well earned vacation. She felt that sitting in a boat that was being rowed through a beautiful lake in the middle of nowhere was something she had the right to enjoy, especially after their recent run in with death.

She remembered those days clearly. After they had rescued the woman from the head transplantation that was supposed to be preformed on her to allow a criminal to live, Mulder had ended up in hospital with hypothermia. Scully had spent night and day with him, terrified that now they had been located, the rebuilt Syndicate would come after them again. She only stepped away from him for a few moments, mostly to operate Christian, and if she was chased out of the office by her colleagues, she would move to her office and sleep there.

Surprisingly, the FBI seemed to have kept its word. They had left him, and her, alone in their house in the middle of nowhere.

Even more surprisingly, two months after the end of the investigation, a letter was dropped into the mail box at the front of their property. Inside were documents that reinstated Fox William Mulder as a full fledged member of society, including a passport and a formal letter of apology from the current heads of the FBI and the DOD for 'falsely accusing him of treason, when he had, in fact, helped to bring a traitor to justice. Both of them could not help but feel disgusted by such a turn of events, by 6 years of a wasted life, but Scully was secretly glad that once again they were free.

Finally, the envelope also contained a large pay check. The notes explained that this was moral compensation for the 6 years of 'missed' pay, a cover for the hospital fees and the consulting and medical services that the pair had provided in the latest case. Both found the money more than welcome, and for once Mulder had no grudge accepting it. Perhaps he felt that they were entitled to at least that much luxury.

From that point on, the phone calls and the letters continued, sometimes requesting help in a new and bizarre case, sometimes bringing more money for the help they offered when they agreed. Once one such letter asked them to consider returning to the Hoover building to act as instructors or even return to their pervious posts, but the former special agents were quick to turn down these offers. They had already lost enough.

More recently, however, they received a letter from the FBI, offering to pay for any vacation they chose, as apparently their previous checks did not account for any holiday pay and they therefore had every right to decide to relax. Scully had been uneasy, but had finally decided to order Mulder out of the house and into the sun: six years of isolation had not done him any good and now she wanted him to enjoy the freedom again.

Thus, they had ended up at a lake in the middle of nowhere.

Oh well, at least there were no Big blues here. Or alien life forms.

Dana Scully could right now honestly say that she was happy. She finally could go and visit her mother any time she wasn't working, and bring Mulder along with her. After the successful operation on Christian and his recovery, she became much respected among her colleagues, despite having gone against them in the first place. She was better than she had been in years and was now trying to catch a sun tan.

"Scully?"

She turned her face away from the water and stared at the man she had come to love with all her heart. Mulder was shielding his eyes from the glaring sun and smiling at her.

"Wanna go back to shore? There are bound to be mythical artifacts lying around and maybe we can run into the flukeman's brother out here by the falls? What do you think?"

She resisted the urge to laugh and instead rolled her eyes. "Admit it, you are tired of rowing and want to sleep for a bit."

He smiled back at her sheepishly, and gave her a tiny nod.

This time she did laugh. "Take us to shore, G-man."

***

Walking back into their cabin, Scully threw off her hat and sat down on the bed, while Mulder made it straight for the pillows and was already burrowed under the pillow, hoping to catch some sleep: the afternoon sun was getting to be quite hot.

Shaking her head a little, Scully stood and moved to the shower, intent on washing away the heat and sweat of the day before joining Mulder. Letting the cool water run down her body, she let herself enjoy the sensation and plan the rest of their vacation. Just as she was drying off and about to walk back into the room, she heard a quiet knock on their door and moved to answer it.

She found no one on the other side, except a letter addressed to her and Mulder. Picking it up, she brought it in.

"Who was it?"

Mulder, apparently, had fallen asleep and was only woken up when she had opened the door.

Silently she showed him the letter, and moved towards the bed. Sitting down, she ripped it open and found only a small piece of paper tucked inside. Unfolding it, she red it out loud.

"Ms Scully, Mr. Mulder,

While I am unhappy to be interrupting your vacation, I believe that I possess some information that may be of interest to you. I thereby believe that it is in your best interest that we meet as soon as possible to discuss it. It is relevant to the work that you have previously conducted for the FBI.

One of my employees will be available to discuss the proposal that I am making to you at the resort centre restaurant. I hope that you will be there.

Perhaps, with your help, we will be able to shed some light on various matter, and you will finally find some of the answers you seek.

I am aware that you are worried about the Syndicate's actions if you do take my offer. You may rest assured that none of this will reach those who pursued you. We appear to have the same enemies.

I urge you to consider this offer.

I am also unable to give you my name, as I too am afraid that the Consortium will take measures against my work.

Regards,

A friend"

***

As Scully finished reading the letter, silence settled over the room. The two ex-special agents were looking at each other, completely lost for words. For a moment, neither of them moved.

Mulder shook his head. "We should go."

From his posture, it was evident that he was not happy about this turn of events, about having to chase these ghosts from his past again. It was also evident, that if she disagreed, he would do his best to persuade her. The past still had a strong hold on him.

"Let's go then." He raised his head to look at her, his hazel eyes silently asking an unspoken question. Even now, she could still be unpredictable. She allowed herself to smile. "We have nothing to lose. Only to gain." Standing up, she moved to the closet and pulled out a new sun dress. Seeing him still sitting on the bed, slightly stunned, she smiled ad pointed to her watch. "Get dressed, or we may be late and have no place to sit."

He was up in less that a second. She only smiled.

***

They sat in the corner of the resort restaurant, waiting for their salad and steak orders to arrive, while scanning the visitors coming in and taking a seat. Despite it being still early, many tourists came before the official dinner hour began: the resort was remote and it did sometimes appear that there was no one there apart from your own family, due to the location of the cabins, but in reality there were well over 30 families staying there at any one time. The place was full and it wasn't even 6 yet.

Scully wished that she could know who it was they were meeting or at least an exact time, but for now she had to contend herself with scanning every customer in the diner. So far no one looked like hey were a candidate, but you could never know.

The door swung open and a family of four stepped in. The parents and their little girl moved to find a table, while their older son went towards the counter to ask something from the bar, most likely a drink. Scully's eyes moved on, scanning the room again. She felt Mulder doing the same in front of her.

A shadow fell over her and she looked up, expecting to see a waiter with their order. Instead, she was looking straight into eyes of the boy who had just come in.

"May I take a seat, Ms Scully, Mr Mulder?"

Too stunned to speak, the pair watched the boy slide into a chair next to Mulder, holding his soda in one hand. He adjusted himself and then turned his eyes towards the room.

"I am glad you came. We were expecting you to ignore this, or treat it as a warning, its good to see you trust some of us still." He paused for a moment, looking over the room. Turning towards them again, he continued. "There seem to be no member working for the Syndicate here, but I can't track recording devices, so if you don't mind joining me outside after you finish your meal? I will be waiting for you."

The young man stood up and without another word moved towards the exit.

Scully had never been more impatient for her food to arrive.

When they had finally finished, they paid and exited the restaurant quickly, stopping outside to look for the boy. The spotted him some ways off, sitting on a bench, alone, looking towards the horizon and the setting sun. They walked over to him and joined him, waiting for this man to speak.

At length he did. "There are no bugs here, so we can talk about some things freely, though I would need to be in a completely secure place before I can give you any details. Now, I would like to te.."

Mulder cut him off. "How do we know you're telling the truth. I mean, for all we know you ARE the Syndicate and there is a Bounty hunter hidden in the bushes about to kill us. Or you are the bounty hunter?"

The boy smiled, and turned to face Fox. "I know you don't trust me. I also know there are none of them around." "How can you be so sure?" "No one is thinking about being part of the Syndicate, and I have observing them for the better part of the day." "Thinking?"

The boy did not answer. Scully looked into his face and, on closer inspection, found him to be about 18. His face seemed vaguely familiar. And the thinking comment was nagging at her.

Realisation struck her and she whirled around to look at the boy more closely. There was no doubt left. "Gibson? Gibson Praise?"

Both men looked at her for a second and eventually the boy smiled. "You are wondering whether I can use my knowledge of him to use you for my purposes. And about the time I was at the trial and how it is a wonder I am still alive? And about the scars on my head left from the operations? And that you missed me. Is that enough, Mr. Mulder?"

Tear clouded Scully's eyes and she closed them, trying to prevent the water from escaping. Gibson Praise leant forward and brushed the tears away before gently whispering so only the three of them could hear: "I'm safe now, Ms Scully, I really am and have been for a long time. We have a lot to talk about now. And once we are done, there is someone I hope you would be willing to meet."

**A/N: Please be so kind as to R&R. Feedback, including constructive criticism, is highly appreciated, though I would advise you not to flame: people put a lot of work into their stories, and labeling it as sh*t is not appreciated, and I am sure you would not like them if you too worked hard on a piece. **

**I will be updating some time in the future with the next chapter. I would like to ask you all if there is anyone out there who would be interested in helpin me edit this, as my writing style doesn't always make sence and a fresh eye is more than welcome. Hope you enjoyed this ^_^**


	2. Chapter 1: The green light

Chapter 1

"Mulder, remind me what I am doing here again?"

Dana Scully felt like she had been thrown, head first, into her old life. For the past 2 weeks Mulder had been raving about aliens and conspiracies, and despite her knowing that they were real now, it didn't stop her from fighting him.

It was made worse by the fact that they were now standing in from of a large gate, leading into a research base.

Meeting with Gibson hadn't really told them anything new, except that there was now a research base that was working on the vaccines for the black oil and attempting to prevent colonisation. The group had apparently wanted Scully and Mulder to join them, due to their previous experiences.

Scully felt that she was being dragged into a nightmare all over again.

On the other hand, they really had nothing to lose now.

Finally making up her mind, she walked towards the doors. The building was located in West Virginia, about 2 hours from where her and Mulder's house was. It made ironic sense, that while they had escaped their life in the X-Files, they really never were too far away from it in the first place. Holding Mulder's hand, she walked in.

Inside, there was nothing special about it, in fact it looked like any other research centre she had been to, with a reception desk just beyond the sliding glass and corridors leading to all sides, probably hiding countless labs where DNA was being manipulated to create vaccines. On the wall opposite the entrance was a plaque, reading "Created in 1989 by one man to save mankind, even when no one else believed him".

"Sir, Ma'am, do you have an appointment?"

The pair turned their heads towards the reception desk, at which sat a young girl, of approximately 20 years, who was smiling at them. Only now did it hit her that they knew nothing about this place or even the name of the person they were supposed to meet. Seeing their puzzled faces, the girl suddenly sprang into action.

"You wouldn't be Mr Mulder and Miss Scully by any chance?"

Scully blinked, surprised by the fact that some reception girl knew that they were expected, and found herself nodding.

The girl looked smug. Smiling openly, she typed something in on the computer, all the while chatting animatedly to the pair. "We were expecting you soon. Not necessarily today, you must understand, but we hoped you would come eventually. It would be really great if you liked it here, we were hoping that someone with expertise like yours would come and help us out on our issues. They say you did a lot for our cause." Suddenly the girl grew serious. "May I take the name of your contact within the facility? You must understand, it's for security purposes." She smiled apologetically.

Mulder had finally found his voice at that moment: "We were invited to come by Mr. Praise, Gibson Praise. He said we were to meet someone, but he seems to have forgotten to call us with a name…"

The girl's large smile returned. "Ah yes, he was out to see you a few weeks back. And not to worry, please follow me, take these badges, wear them at all times within the facility. I will take you to your appointment. Please excuse us for any delays, as we weren't expecting you at any time. You will be received as soon as the Director can finish her emergency meetings." She led them quickly across the building, going up first on one, then on another elevator, stopping only when they reached a set of double doors, made out in brown oak. The girl stepped in for a moment and then came out directly, opening the door wider and then letting the two ex-agents in behind her.

They found themselves in a nicely furnished and large waiting room, with armchairs placed along one wall, a coffee table, and a bookcase along the other side. The girl moved to the door opposite the one they had just come in through and pressed a button. A red light immediately came on.

She turned back towards them. "I am very sorry, but it seems the Director is still in the meeting. It shouldn't long now though. You can go in as soon as the light changes to green. Can I get you anything while you wait?"

Scully smiled at the girl. "Could you get us one black coffee and one with cream and…"

"Two sugars. I'll bring them right up." With that she ran out, leaving a slightly stunned Scully staring at the door. "Did she just read my mind or does this place also spy on us?"

Mulder grinned at her. "Now, Scully, I am sure there is a logical explanation for this, backed by science." Scully smiled back. It was good to see him back up again and joking, as though they were still working for the FBI. The banter was something she still missed from her past.

The door opened once again and the girl rushed back in with a tray. On it were two cups of coffee, a small coffee pot, a cream jug, a sugar bowl and a little vase filled with little biscuits and pralines. She set this all down in from of the pair and then stood back up. "The Director seems to be nearly finished, so you will be seen in a few minutes. Don't hesitate to ring for me if you have any questions." "Thank you Miss…" "It's Claire." "Well thank you Claire. We will." The girl smiled a large smile and made a little head bow. "Hope you enjoy your visit and I hope to see you again."

The door slid shut behind her.

"So, who do you think this mysterious Director is? They seemed to be expecting us, by obviously not for a while."

Mulder just shrugged, and then stood up. "It looks like we are about to find out."

The light on the wall leading to the cabinet had just turned green.


	3. Chapter 2: Research Facility 4

_**Disclaimer: Nothing has changed since I posted this the first time round. X-Files STILL doesn't belong to me. Please don't sue me, I'm a student with a p/t job that is my only source of income. I am making no money, and only want REVIEWS (hint hint, nudge nudge)  
**_

_**The rating is T for the moment, may have to bump it up, because it is likely to get gory at some stage. Right now I just intend to make you all squirm.  
**_

Chapter 2: Research Facility 4

The decided that it was impolite to make others, in this case the 'Director', wait and Mulder pushed open the door. They walked into the room and stopped in what appeared to be the middle of it.

There was no one there.

The room itself was a large office, with a desk located opposite the door. Behind it there was no wall, instead of boring concrete there were 2 large windows each covering the distance between the floor and the ceiling and stretching for a good 3 meters sideways. The other wall were covered with paintings, pictures, old-fashioned maps, a certificate and several drawing that looked like they had been made by a talented child. The table itself only had a chair behind it, two in front and held one computer and a number of official looking reports. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

There was still no one there.

Scully had moved to sit in one of the chairs, while Mulder had approached a small bookcase and was seemingly trying to build a profile of the person they were there to meet. Neither of them noticed the door located of to the side of the table that quietly opened and allowed a person to step through it into the room and towards them.

The person closed the door and leaned on it to observe the visitors. Smiling, they finally decided to speak up.

"I am glad to see you made it Miss Scully, Mr. Mulder." The pair in the room whirled around to face the woman that was calmly observing them. "I think building my profile is useless though, at least for you. After all, you do know me quite well, don't you…Fox?"

***

Everyone in the room froze for a moment and Scully found herself staring at Mulder and the woman, who in turn had their eyes fixed on each other, and trying to assess the situation.

The woman who had walked in was a white Caucasian female, quite tall, almost Mulder's height, with long brown hair, reading glasses, brown eyes and dressed in a cream business suit. She was leaning against the doorframe, arms casually folded across her chest and quietly smiling while looking on. As though noticing Scully's eyes fixed on her, she moved away from the door and seemingly floated over to her desk. Sitting down on the chair, she motioned for the others to do the same. While both tried to collect their senses, she leaned over to her phone and asked someone on the other end to bring in the coffees left in the entrance.

Silence ensued.

It appeared that neither party was interested in speaking out first. Scully was looking lost, the Director was obviously waiting for one of them to acknowledge her or perhaps ask a question, and Mulder was staring at the young woman obviously trying to put something together.

Claire came into the office, carrying a tray with their still warm cups of coffee, as well as a small teapot and a cup with a lemon slice. "Extra strong Darjeeling, black, no milk, lemon, half a sugar. I thought you may need it Ma'am." The woman smiled back at her, grateful for the comfort the drink brought. It would be a hard conversation and a long day.

Taking a sip, she looked over at the couple in front of her, and finally deciding it was time, she spoke up.

"Miss Scully, Mr. Mulder. I would like to welcome you to our research facility. I am glad that you have taken up my invitation to come and see this place and our work. I am the director of the base, created to create a vaccine to combat the various types of black oil, gestation, DNA engineered cancer and to deal with any other anomalies that have arisen due to any, shall we say intervention, unnatural to the human body. I believe that you have working in a parallel field, and I have to say I am interested in any incite you have to offer. Of course, I am prepared to take this completely on your terms. I understand you both have been affected more than anyone by this and it is completely understandable if you refuse."

"Sorry?"

"Am I going too fast then?" Scully shook her head. "It's not that. It's more in the line that this is a surprise. Gibson didn't tell us much and we have no idea as to who you are."

The woman in front of her smiled. "I wouldn't be so sure, Miss Scully. I am sure your partner is quite aware of who I am. But as you have had no chance to meet me before, I understand you perfectly." Pausing, she seemed to contemplate something. "My name is Emelie Fox. I'm Fox's cousin." She smiled. "Therefore there is no reason to be jealous, Miss Scully, all of our history is purely coincidental."

Scully gasped inwardly, not believing that she was that easy to read, but had to admit that she did feel slightly relieved that Mulder and this woman shared no improper intimacy.

Next to her Mulder seemed to relax. He leant back and looked at the woman before him. "How?"

"You mean how I am still around or how I am in this position of power? No thanks to you, Mulder. As for the position, you have met my father not that far back."

She was met with a pair of blank stares. "I didn't take his name, Mulder, but you do know him. He was the man who once told you where to find a spaceship in Antarctica. The one you used to call the Well-Manicured man. The one who died for both of you and the truth. The one that created this research facility as part of Syndicate, but still independent? I didn't introduce this place properly. Welcome to Syndicate Research Facility 4, Department of Vaccines. The place that has been trying to save all of mankind for the past 15 years, and not just a handful of rich powerful men.

And now we want to do more."

**A/N: **_Please, please PLEASE R&R. When you start publishing your stories you will start praying other read them too. It shows appreciation for a writers effort. Constructive critisism is loved and awaited._

_Underarrest39: thank you, you are quite a faithful reader. Is there anything you particularly like/dislike yet? YOUR feedback is more than appreciated, I have a feeling i write for you. ^_^ Oh well, that is great then _


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